Toveri Alliance: Convocation of Leaders
Make New Friends But Keep The Old... The room was quiet; only the sound of a rapid heartbeat sitting in the lonely chair. It had been some time since it last sat at this table for a meeting such as this, evidence by the way the dust in the sunlight danced along with her nervous heart. Ten golden chairs stood around the large circular table; an upgrade due to the amount of growth the Toveri Alliance had seen in this past year. It was Samarra Inari who sat at the "head chair" as it had been her duty this past year to set up and run meetings, as well as keep them in order. She had graciously accepted such responsibility knowing that she had the support of her fellow members of the alliance at the time; as well as the aid of the additional leaders, Tristan Scalibur and Aether Cade. But today she sat there with an unsettled heart as one of those leaders, Aether, had informed them only a few days ago that he was leaving his guild and his position on the alliance to pursue something more akin with his beliefs as a Rune Knight for the Magic Council. Samarra was happy that he had found something that fed his soul; yet she was utterly confused at the lack of communication with those of the alliance, and from what she had heard, his guild, in the fact that he was abandoning his post as a Master to take on what she thought was a more proletariat job, even if it was more hands on. She shakes her head at the thoughts racing through her head and focuses on the task at hand. She had called the nine other guild masters to allow for introductions, as at least two more more guilds had joined since their last encounter during the X800 Grand Magic Games. But the more important task at hand was electing a new leader to fill Aether's spot. And as it has been a year, Samarra only saw it fitting to allow for a complete re-vote for the three leaders of the alliance; giving those new guilds a chance to have a say in who leads them. She waits patiently in the chair, waiting for the rest of the masters to show up. She plays with a loose strand of hair from her ponytail, a timeless nervous habit she has had since childhood; something spurred by the thought of who will lead this alliance next. Her train of thought is derailed as she hears the crack of the door and sees a familiar face walk through. Tristan Scalibur steps through the doors calm and relaxed as he approached his seating. Once he arrived he placed his blade on his table sat down resting his head on the back of his seat. "How long has it been since we've been here? It felt like forever ago." He says soaking in the memories from the last time. Samarra nods her was, joining Tristan in memories of time's past. Alden Virkov is slow moving not in any sort of rush to get to his seat. Once he gets to his seat he sits and places his feet onto the table before seemingly dozing off. The guild boss of Purple Phoenix while not entirely possessing a professional air to him is not to be underestimated, "So what business are we discussing today?" He asked quickly not letting his guard down for a second. The next one to enter was a man in a red coat, with coffee brown skin and white hair. It was the new guild master of Dragon Gunfire, William Mercury. Behind him trailed the grim-looking program manager of the Spartoi, Jason Gaebolg. "Lady Inari," said William with a slight bow, before sitting down in his seat. "It is nice to finally meet you in person. This is our Spartoi program manager, Jason." "We've met before," said Jason. "William huh? So your the one who fought Zora the other day. You roughed up two of my guild wizards pretty bad" Tristan said with a grin as he addresses to him. "Well anyways nice to have ya abroad." He continued. Samarra raises an eyebrow at the claim of Tristan, having heard a great deal about William from Aether; but to know his strength had traversed other guilds was quite surprising. She turns to the new face and gives a warm smile, "Welcome William, it is a pleasure to finally put a face to a name; I have heard great things about you from Aether. And nice to see you again Jason. Please have a seat, we are still waiting on a handful of the Masters." Vasto walks into the room quietly and sits down in a chair looking at the people in the room. He is still at unease, but this may be due to being out of the guild for once to these meetings. He just hopes his guild is doing fine. " I am so nervous of this. " Vasto said in a very nervous tone. Valencia Morningheart was next to enter, the extremely tall woman nodding her head in a greeting to the masters who had already gathered. She had to bring her long hair over her shoulder before taking her seat as she didn't want to be seated upon the locks. Now giving a small smile she says, "I apologize if I am tardy, but it is absolutely wonderful to see old friends and greet the new ones to come." Slender fingers twined together and wrist rested on the table and while the master of Archer's Cross sat straight back, she looked quite contented to be here this time as it was not tragedy (as far as she knew) that brought them together. Soon after, the male of the Kasumi Twins arrived. The pale man took a deep breath before he stepped into the room, pleasant grin lighting up his features. Those who had arrived before him seated in the large, tall backed chairs gave off a slightly intimidating presence, but he was a grown man who had to get used to being a newbie again. "Hello everyone, wonderful day isn't it? I'm Sterling Kasumi, filling in for my sister, Silver since she has other matters to attend to." He found himself an empty seat and plopped down, legs crossing immediately and hands coming to rest in his lap. The fact that his voice hadn't wavered and that he hadn't had a klutzy moment when walking to the table pleased him greatly, helping him ease into the meeting a bit more. Alden looked briefly towards William and Jason primarily Jason before turning his gaze away slightly annoyed at Jason's presence after all while this was not entirely public knowledge Sykushi was his apprentice before he cut him lose to develop on his own. Alden heard about their skirmish during the Dragon Gunfire's S rank trials from one of his sources about the incident. Just a reason to validate his raised guard he promptly assumed silently in his head. "Virkov won't stop looking at me," said Jason quietly to William. "You fought one his pupils," answered William. "Sykushi Strkri." "Who? Oh, that brat that fought with that girl. He's S-Class now isn't he?" "Yes, but I don't want you starting any fights. We have an image to uphold." "Yeah, yeah old man, just let me know when we can leave. I've never been one for meetings." "Then why did you decide to come?" Jason had no retort for that, causing William to smile. Dairen Kane then entered the room and as took his seat he spoke; "I apologize for being late I had run into some old friends from the Magic Council and had to take care of some business with them", He said in a calm manner. "So many new people here. Are we still missing anyone else in this room? " Vasto said to the group. He is still getting used to being around other people. Samarra spoke up from her chair, overhearing the soft voice of Vasto, his uncomfortableness rather apparent. "I believe we are still waiting on Alice of Galdrabok, and Pharzuph of Libertus," she glanced around the room making sure she got those who agreed to show. "I am unsure if Ishikawa of Ascending Wyvern is attending, but Nikolai of Pantheon is away on personal business." She smiles a bit at the gathering of all the mage's in the alliance, a bit proud of how far it had come, taking baby steps towards the goal of protecting all the people of Fiore. Now if only I can get them all under control when it comes time to vote... there is a lot of commotion going on here with all the new faces. She thinks as she lets out a heavy sigh. Jason began tapping his finger on the table. He was becoming rather impatient. "Calm yourself young one," said William to him telepathically. "I'm certain the guild masters here wouldn't hesitate to take you down. Especially after what you did to in X792." Jason stopped tapping his finger. "You're not my therapist William. And you're certainly not my master. You haven't earned my respect as that yet." "You should kill him and take the mantle yourself," said a voice in Jason's head. "What the hell was that?" asked William. "Nothing" Alice entered the room nearly unnoticed, clutching a large book to her chest as she silently made her way over to her seat, bowing slightly before sitting. She sat her book on the table in front of her and glanced around at the others, recognizing a few but others being complete strangers. "Forgive me for being late, I do not intend to make a habit of it. I had other matters in which to attend and lost track of time." Alice said in a quiet yet firm voice. "I am Alice Vroman, master of Galdrabók. It is a pleasure to meet you all," She says, pulling off her glasses and cleaning them with a small white cloth she had pulled from her pocket before placing them back on her face. " it is nice to meet you Alice. " Vasto said to her. Vasto puts his hand on his face as he looks up at the ceiling and sighs. He wishes that this meeting can end soon. He looks like he is going sweat bullets. "You're the newest member of the alliance," said William. "Aren't you? It's very nice to meet you." He smiled at her warmly. Walking into the room with a slight smirk on his face, Pharzuph Vaccaro looked at the mostly unknown faces seated across the room. As soon as he walked into the room, he couldn't help but feel the slight tension wafting in the atmosphere, making him tense up as well. "I'd like to skip the introductions but most of us haven't met before and skipping would be rude of me," the guild master began. "My name is Pharzuph Vaccaro, master of the guild, Libertus." Pharzuph finished, as he then took a seat on one of the few remaining seats in the room. He cautiously eyed the other members of the room as he patiently waited for any orders, though it is to be pointed out that his body was in that of a relaxed manner, one that didn't look worried the slightest, making him give off mixed signals. Tristan glanced around the room, gazing at everyone. He could see the tension their all feeling especially to Jason. He let out a grin. "Alright everyone lets all relax and take a deep breath. We may be a bunch of strangers grouped together into one room but were not enemies. We're strive for peace into the world so lets work together to achieve it as comrades what do ya say!?" He called out to try to inspire them with a big grin of excitement in his face. "You're right Tristan," said William. "It's not like we're the members of the Bellona Alliance. We respect each, and consider each other equals. There's no need for anyone to be nervous." "I am ready to bring peace to the world." Vasto said. The New Are Silver, The Old Are Gold Samarra smiles at Tristan's rally cry and its ability to settle the growing feeling of uneasiness within the room. With attention directed towards the man sitting next to her, Samarra thought to take advantage of the moment and begin the meeting, as most of the masters happen to be present now. She stands up to signal her intent to speak, as she clears her throat a bit. "Alright everyone, I believe we should get down to business; we can discuss any other matters after this first order." She takes a deep breath to prepare the explanation. "So as some of you may have heard, Aether Cade had left his spot as master of Dragon Gunfire; leaving his position to William instead." She says gesturing to the newest face at the alliance table. "So with that he also left his position as a leader in this alliance empty. Now usually we would only gather to vote for the replacement of the single position, but because it has been a great deal of time since we last held an election, as well as all the new faces who had no say in what leader was to be elected, I believe we should have another election to vote for all 3 leaders once more." "So we can start by nominating mages of our own, giving a reason for such nomination, as well as giving the nominated a chance to accept or decline the offer. As a reminder there are 3 positions to vote for, a head leader and two sub leaders. The head leader is responsible for running meetings and maintaining order within those meetings. Two additional leaders will be elected to assist in meeting topics as well as assist in coordinating battle strategies. To help avoid confusion and streamline the process, our nominations should only be for the head leader; as I am sure that will voice the opinions for those we feel should assist that head leader. I will open up the floor now." She says, interested to see whom each one will vote for. Tristan spoke up and continued. "Also to avoid any unnecessary arguments and distrust on each other you are not allowed to nominate yourself for any of the positions." He said in a serious tone. " thank you for that information. I did not know that. " Vasto said to Tristan. Alden got up from his relaxed position as the meeting was starting in his mind at least. He surveyed the room and the current guild masters among them he only took visible interest when he looked over the females in the room. "Hmm, if I had to chose someone to lead us... tied between Alice, Valencia, and Samarra i'm fine with any of them leading me." As Alden sat back in his chair he waited for the rest to pick who they wanted to have as the head leader. Vasto sat there and thinks hard at the selection at hand. " hmmm..." Vasto said quietly. Samarra eyebrows furrow in confusion at the words of Alden, and if that was an actual nomination, because she thought it was clear that their was only supposed to be one nomination for the head leader. She figured she should make an example, just to clear it up for those that are new to the alliance. Sitting back in her chair she gazes out on the room, fairly familiar with all of the masters there, and contemplated who to nominate. Coming to a conclusion she leans forward, putting her elbows on the table and projecting towards the others. "I for one would like to nominate Alice Vroman. Although she is fairly new to the alliance, I am familiar with her work and her organization skills. I feel her logical mind and skills would fit well as the leader of this organization, and although I have not seen her skills in battle, I believe her morals and tactical skills would be able to assess the challenges we face and decipher an appropriate plan for any occasion." Valencia ponders her own choice for a moment before giving her own nomination. "Though I do agree that Miss Vroman seems to be a wise choice, I personally place my nomination for Samarra. She has led us in the past and I strongly believe she could continue that just and unbiased leadership in the future. I have fought by your side before Lady Inari and with no hesitation I would do it again for you inspire great camaraderie and allow us a place to put our trust knowing we will be given the chance to have our fair say. I think her title as the Flash Tactician is well deserved and her skill in keeping a meeting on proper track is impressive to say the least with our lot."She stops for a moment to smile widely and show her joke was in good humor. "Your patience, fairness, and devotion to whatever cause you set your mind to give the right balance to form a head that clicks our alliance together just right." Samarra beams with a smile of pride, as well as blushing a bit on the rain of compliments. "Your words make me blush Valencia," she says with a slight laugh, "and thank you so much. I accept my nomination with a humble heart." She bows her head in respect towards the Archer's Cross master whom nominated her. "If Aether believed in your leadership skills, then I suppose I should believe in you as well," said William. "You have my vote." Jason looked towards Samarra, sizing her up, then dropped his gaze without speaking a word. He had made his decision as well. " I choose Samarra as well. " Vasto said to the group. Alice closed her eyes for a moment, recalling everything she knew about those in the room before opening them and proceeding to speak, " I believe Lady Inari would continue to serve the alliance well, I have heard a great many things about her skill both in battle and as a leader. Her ability to run the largest guild in all of Fiore should be evidence enough of this. As for sub-leaders," Alice said, pausing for a moment to once again gather her thoughts. "Despite her...eccentric personality, I believe Silver would make a fine sub-leader to the alliance, while her guild is still very small, not unlike my own, she was able to lead them to victory in Grand Magic Games earlier this year. I believe such a feat should be taken into consideration as their victory had been unexpected. This can mean only one of two things, she is a fine leader beneath her offputting personality, or that her team was underestimated by the others during the games due to their underdog status. I wish to give her the benefit of the doubt and my vote goes to her." She cleared her throat before continuing, "As for the second sub-leader, I will admit that I don't know much about the rest of you, so do forgive me for coming into this meeting a bit unprepared. That being said, I will do my best to cast my vote with the current information at my disposal. With that said, my vote for the second sub-leader goes to Valencia as from what I have heard, I have come to believe that she has the potential to blossom into a strong leader,"Alice said as she folded her hands out in front of her, resting them on the book that sat on the large circular table. "That is all I have to say," She says before falling silent as the allow they next person to begin speaking. Samarra waited in silence a bit, seeing that no one was going to nominate anyone more for the head leader position, she cleared her throat a bit and announced, "Well since I see that no one is nominating a head leader anymore, I say we vote on that position before we move onto the nominations for the two sub leaders that Alice has started." She searches through her memories to call back the nominations so far, announcing them for those to vote from. "So our options for head leader are between Alice and myself. Let us go around and cast one vote for who we wish to have as the head leader. I shall cast my vote for Alice." "I would gladly vote for Lady Samarra for the head leader. I've known her for years and she is more then capable of leading us to peace" Tristan said in a serious yet relaxing tone. "I vote for Lady Samarra as well," said William. "And Jason agrees with me." Jason looked down, groaning at William's true remark. "My nomination is in favor of Lady Samarra", Dairen chimes in after spending much time in silence after much deliberations. "In my honest opinion she seems like one of the most qualified among those here who can be an excellent leader." Alden had gotten out a stack of cards while listening to everyone talk he looked back on the potential candidates among them for the head leader as he was stacking his cards he spoke "I'll vote for Alice, as for my reason refer to Samarra's words about her earlier." After saying this he continued organizing his poker cards tad bit annoyed no one considered him for nominating. "I will vote for miss Samarra. I have a feeling that you are gonna do great things," Vasto said to her. "As I placed my nomination for her, I can only imagine it was known I was planning on voting for her. I too agree in placing my vote for Lady Inari." Valencia stated. "I too vote for Samarra." Sterling seconded. With the written vote sent in by Nikolai, who happened to by gone on business in Aeternum, Samarra had gotten the majority vote for the head leader of the alliance. She breaths a great sigh of relief, for hearing that most of those in the alliance still supported what she was doing and how she was managing the meetings. She clears her throat, "Well with that vote, a majority has been cast. I shall continue to serve you guys humbly and graciously. If there is any way you feel I could do a better job in the future, I would love to hear it. But that can be talked about afterwards, there is still the manner of voting on the sub leaders. We can nominate those who we see fit now, and will hold a vote just as before." Samarra says calmly. "As for me, I will stick with my nomination of Alice for reasons I have stated before. And although that is counted as my nomination, I would like to just speak my opinion and say that I would like to say that I think it would be interesting to see either Silver from Crashing Wave, or Pharzuph from Libertus in a position of such responsibility. As their guilds are both relatively new, but have grow to have quite the reputation, I feel a position like this would serve them greatly in both experience and application of their skills." Samarra bowed her head slightly, for fear that the voice of her opinion was unwelcomed. "Well said Lady Inari and, if I may, I have a letter from my sister dealing with the matter of the rest of our nominations. I apologize that I had forgotten about it until now." Sterling informs, pulling out a half sheet of paper and read, "Dear Toveri, I got called into the council again to explain a recent incident regarding the claimed "destruction" of Crocus' imperial market and will be unable to attend the surely, not boring meeting. In any case, I thought I should still place my nominations. For Commander-in-Chief, I'd say none other that the Lady herself, Samarra Inari. In terms of sub commanders, even though I haven't met them yet, Alice Vroman and Valencia Morningheart. If you're looking for an explanation for any of these, I've got none. They just seem like strong mages from what I hear. Lots of Love, Silv." He finished, folding up the note and pocketing it once more. "Though I do not know either of our choices personally, I do have to say those ladies seem like optimal choices. I have heard many a tale of the brilliance of Miss Vroman and the battle prowess of Lady Morningheart. They would make excellent seconds." Placing the card of the queen of lions down at the top of a little card pile Alden is making he looks over the room once again. He briefly considered William before deciding against it, he knew too little about William to be certain of it. He placed a Red Bishop card and a priestess card below the lion queen card before speaking "For sub leaders I nominate Alice and Valencia." He then continued listening into the conversation to see how it goes. Samarra thinks it over and feels that the nomination process is eating up a great deal of time, something guild masters hardly have to spare. "Perhaps we should just open the floor up to all masters as potential nominations, and go straight to casting out votes. I will cast my vote for sub leaders for Alice and Valencia." Convinced of the persuasive reasons that both Alden and Silver gave; having known Valencia long enough to attest to such admiration. "I vote for Tristan and Valencia," said William. "They're both veteran members of the Toveri Alliance, and Tristan himself was one of the two previous sub-commanders, alongside my former master. I'm sure they'll make strong and competent leaders." The rest of the group follows the same procedure, casting their vote and giving reason to such decision. When all was said and done, it was Valencia and Alice who had gained the majority, naming them as the new sub leaders of the Toveri Alliance. "Well looks like we have an all girl leadership for these next few years." Samarra laughed out a bit. "Well that was all that I gathered you here to discuss, meaning the main business is out of the way. You are all free to bring something up if youve heard any news, but other than that you are free to mingle, or return back to your guild."